No One Knows
by Village
Summary: Seth resolves to spend the school year wearing Summer down. But when another girl steps into the picture, he stops to ask himself if Summer's worth it. Will Summer clue in before it's too late? SethSummer--again. heh. Please R&R. Chap. 7 "Come Undone" up.
1. Prologue

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Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of The OC, they belong to FOX. So, uh, don't sue.

A/N: I'm writing this mainly because I wanted to write a Summer/Seth fic to amuse myself and to waste time as I wait for The OC to come back. (Next week, whoo!) I was a little wary of writing Summer/Seth as my first my OC fic because they seem to be all over this site, most very well written at that. But I'm going to try to be original in a somewhat overused storyline. Try, being the operative word. I'm not sure I'll be able to pull it off. Anyway, thanks for taking a look. *g* Any feedback would *really* be appreciated ("") and please let me know if there any inconsistencies.

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No One Knows

Seth felt panicked and inadequate as he waited to hear news on Marissa. Summer was still clutched to him. Tears no longer streaming down her face but her eyes were hollowed with sadness. 

He watched Ryan stalk in front of him. The frustration bristling from his best friend was intense and a little scary. He felt useless too, Seth realized. He wanted to help but couldn't.

"Seth," the quiet, soft voice didn't sound like Summer's. He looked down at her and was still somewhat shocked to see that she was there, in his arms. She was looking up at him, eyes wide, mouth pulled down in a frown and he wanted nothing else but to kiss her forehead and tell her everything was going to be all right. But he didn't.

He waited for her to continue and she did after she sighed and pulled herself out of his arms. "Can we…walk somewhere?" Seth didn't know how to treat this hesitant, quiet Summer. 

He nodded. "Yeah, wherever you want."

Ryan looked over at them as they stood up and Seth said quickly, "We're just going to go walk. Okay?"

Ryan nodded. "I'll go see if there's any more news."

They headed down the hallway of the small hospital and walked towards the garden outside. The night was fresh and Seth thought how unfair it was that the stars were shining so brightly outside when his friend could be—could be dying. 

They walked around the garden, that was surprisingly empty and without verbally agreeing to a destination, seemed to find themselves heading towards a bench nearby.

They sat in silence for a while, each not wanting to disrupt this small sense of peace, this quiet.

Seth gave Summer a sidelong look. Her head was back, her eyes closed and her hair was swaying in the wind to an unheard melody. It was poetic. It was beautiful. It was…sick. He was sick. Even now, all he could think about was touching her. It felt wrong somehow in the situation. Wrong to think of anyone or anything besides Marissa.

He looked at her again. This time her eyes were open and those big pools of brown were looking directly at him. "Seth, do you…?" she stopped and looked away.

He took her chin between his hands and turned her back to face him, an un-Seth like gesture but they were both acting out of character tonight. "She's going to be ok, Summer."

"But what if she isn't?" There was anger now beneath the sadness and fear.

"I don't know." Seth sighed feeling completely helpless in the situation.

Summer got up and started pacing in front of him. "We've been friends forever. Coop and I have been through everything together. We got our first manicures together and our first bikini wax, which was a nightmare. And she's like, my best friend. She can't _die_. What would I do, Seth? What would I do without her?" she said the last quietly, dejectedly.

Seth got up then, and wrapped his arms around her. He didn't offer any more words of comfort. He just physically let her know that she wasn't alone. That he was there.

He wasn't sure how long they stood outside like that, wrapped around each other but one moment they were alone and the next he could see Ryan and the expression on his face was enough for him to know.

"She's going to be ok," he said again, his voice muffled in her hair. And this time he knew it was true.


	2. Some Rules

The scene was fitting. Girls with dark tans walked around waving to each other. Muscular guys screeching up in their expensive cars, loud music blaring from their speakers.

"Something's missing." Seth looked over at Ryan as he parked his Rover in front of the high school.

"What?" Ryan looked bemused and Seth could tell he was a little nervous.

"Something's missing to this." He pointed at the scene outside. He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to face Ryan. "I know what it is. Theme music."

Ryan raised both brows.

"This is definitely a theme music moment, man. Your first day at school here. Summer's first look at yours truly since Tijuana. She won't want to keep her hands off me."

"Sure." Ryan grinned before looking back at the building. "So, should we…go?"

"Yeah, let's do this."

The both hopped out of the car and Seth grinned. "What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me?" he sang.

Ryan looked at him incredulously. "Uh what?"

"Wonder Years, dude. With a Little Help From My Friends. Lennon, McCartney—Not the Joe Cocker rendition—Perfect theme song."

"Seth?"

Seth grinned. "Sí mi amigo?"

"No singing."

Seth nodded. "Yeah, you're right. The singing is too much. I get that. We got to keep it cool for the first day of school—Yeah I just said that. Kill me."

Ryan laughed and smacked Seth on the back with his palm. "Come on, let's go."

Seth smiled and followed him inside.

…

"Coop, he's been playing you, like, this whole time." Summer frowned at Marissa as she flipped through her agenda to see where she had her first class.

"I know but he told me that he was going to stop and I believe him. We've been together so long. It would be, like, stupid of me to not give him one more chance." She finally found where she wrote it and after getting the number, she headed towards her classroom.

"Yeah, but like, what about Chino?"

Marissa stopped and faced her friend. "What about him?"

Summer shrugged one shoulder. "Well after what happened in Tijuana—"

"Yeah, umm, can we just forget that episode in my life, okay?"

Summer shrugged again. "Whatever." She was just as ready as Marissa to forget about that trip from Hell…kind of.

…

"The cafeteria. The room that separates the men from the boys," Seth said as he and Ryan made their way into the room.

Ryan looked around casually, his eyes lazily drifting over the room and the students inside. It wasn't like any cafeteria he'd been to. It was big, with huge glass windows and a pond on one side. The light of the sun tinted the room in a way that made it seem bright, airy and not threatening at all. "Doesn't look very scary," Ryan said casually.

"Yeah, that's what they want you think. They like to lull you into feeling that false sense of security and then when you're minding your own business eating your brownie they attack."

Ryan raised a brow at Seth's dramatic ramblings before he continued. "Right. So, anyway, where do you usually sit?" They stepped into the food line and looked over the contents.

"Well, see. I don't really come here…and eat. Like, there's a couple clubs and stuff that go on at lunch and—and I see a few guys there and hey, meatloaf..." Seth became fixated with a brownish lump of meat. "I think." He really didn't want to go into the details of what a loser he was.

He'd never thought of his school life as being awful. He'd always told himself that it was fine—that he was fine with not being one of the so-called _cool_ kids but now that Ryan was around he felt guilty that he wasn't. Ryan deserved better than watching anime in a small classroom at the other end of the school.

Ryan looked over Seth, his sharp eyes taking in his friend's embarrassed expression. "Hey, man. Whatever you want to do, I'll do too. It's cool either way."

Seth gave Ryan a lopsided grin. He should have known better. Ryan hadn't been overly concerned with being popular during the summer why would that change now?

They filled up their trays and paid for their food before eying the cafeteria for a prospective table. Ryan saw one closer to the doors leading outside and Seth followed him as he made his way over to it.

They sat down and dug into their lunches.

"So, seen Marissa yet?" Seth asked before he took a bite of his sub.

Ryan shook his head. "Nah and I don't know, man, I think she's avoiding me. I catch glimpses of her next door but she never stops to say anything. I just want to see if she's—if she's cool, you know?"

"Well, here's your chance." Seth jerked his head and Ryan's gaze fell on Marissa. She was walking across the cafeteria with Summer and heading towards the doors, the doors that they were so conveniently sitting beside.

Seth forgot about Marissa as soon as he saw Summer. She looked amazing. He hadn't seen her since that last night in Tijuana and from all appearances she looked like she was back to normal. For a second Seth wondered if that was a good thing.

The girls were almost at the doors before Seth decided to call out to her. "Hey Summer."

Summer turned and her eyes shifted to his. "Okay, did I, like, not make it clear about the wholetalking to me thing?"

Seth paused only briefly, a tiny burst of anger flaring before he tempered it. He'd hoped that after, what he'd now come to term, _that night_ she would be a little friendlier towards him in public but obviously, that had been too much to ask. He'd just have to wear her down. That he could do.

"I think it's a little late to go back to what we were, Summer. After those late nights in Tijuana and that night at my Grandfather's party. You remember that party don't you—," Summer slapped a hand over his mouth before he could say anything else.

She shoved her face close to his and said in a low growl. "Cohen, you breathe one word to anyone about those, like, two times in history that I have spent time with you, I will kill you. Got it?"

Her hand was still over his mouth, so all he could do was nod.

"Good. Coop, let's go," she said, finally taking her hand away from his lips and they both walked away.

Seth smiled a little and turned back to Ryan, who looked not in the least bit amused. Seth hadn't missed the fact that Marissa and Ryan hadn't talked at all during the time he'd been teasing Summer. He wasn't very concerned. For some reason he knew they would figure it out.

He glanced back at Ryan, who was picking at a slice of pizza and asked, "Did you see that?"

Ryan looked up, brow raised.

"She _so_ wants me."

Ryan snorted and went back to picking at his pizza.

**Previous ****Next**


	3. To Follow

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A/N: Thanks for the feedback guys. It's really appreciated. I'm putting these chapters out really quickly and that's very unusual for me. So, I'll probably be going back to form soon. I just wanted to warn you guys.

...

Summer absentmindedly slid the nail polish brush over her toe nails. She was thinking. About Seth. A couple of months ago—a couple of weeks ago that would have been laughable to her. Now it wasn't.

She kept replaying the events of Tijuana, how she had actually had _fun_ with him, how he had comforted her that night at the hospital. How much she had liked being in his arms. 

Summer shook her head as if to rattle those thoughts out of her brain. What was going on with her? She couldn't have a thing for Cohen. That would just be all kinds of wrong. 

When he had stopped her earlier that day, she'd almost greeted back, pleasantly even. Then she had remembered who she was and more importantly _where _she was. She couldn't have people thinking that she was actually friends with him, she couldn't have Seth thinking that either. Just because she had briefly let down her guard one night didn't mean that things were going to change. They weren't. Not if she could help it.

A knock on her door snapped her back to the present. "Yeah," she called.

Her stepmother popped her head in the room. "Summer, I need you to get ready. Remember we're having everyone over for dinner."

Summer rolled her eyes. "Mmhmm," she mumbled and her step mom left the room. She'd almost forgotten. Her uncle, aunt and cousin had decided a couple months earlier to move down from New York. Her uncle had gotten a better job or they were tired of that horrible snow or something. Summer didn't remember. All she knew was that she was being coerced into helping her cousin, Julia, fit in. 

Summer snorted as a picture of a nine year old Julia popped into her head. A tomboy with blue eyes, mousy hair and those ungodly braces. Summer wondered if she'd have to offer advice on makeup and clothing as well. 

She would try to be nice to the girl but she wasn't going to go above and beyond to help her fit in, that wasn't her job. Her thoughts wandered again and settled back on a curly haired guy with a boyish grin. She huffed in frustration until a thought hit her. She'd introduce Julia to Seth, and kill two birds with one stone.

That settled, she went back to finishing her nails. 

…

Frantic fingers punched at the keys of a telephone.

"Hello." 

"Coop?"

"Hey, what's up?"

"The bitch is gorgeous."

"Umm, what? Who?" 

"My cousin, Julia. You know gawky Julia with the overalls. Overalls, ew. Anyway, she's like a totally different person."

"Oh, I see." Marissa grinned as she listened to Summer ramble on about her cousin. Summer didn't like competition and if Julia was as beautiful as she said then she was going to have a lot of it. 

"Don't worry," she said, finally interrupting Summer's tirade. "The guys that will go after her you've already had in someway or other, or like, rejected. So, all she'll have is your leftovers."

"Yeah, you're totally right," Summer said smiling. "You always know what to say, Coop."

"No problem."

"So, you totally ignored Chino today. Are you just going to shaft him for the rest of the year?"

Marissa sighed. "No, well I don't want to but…I feel really dumb for even admitting this, I feel like he's going to come down hard on me for being with Luke after everything and I don't think I can deal with that."

"Well, I don't—shit. Coop, gotta go. I sneaked out in the middle of dinner to call and dad's calling me back down. Talk to you later, 'kay?"

"Yeah. See ya." 

Summer hung up and left her room. As she walked down the hall and back to the dining room where her beautiful cousin sat waiting, she wondered if God was laughing at her.

…

Summer frowned as she watched Julia eat up the attention that was being given to her. All the kids were hanging outside on their lunch break and Julia was in the centre of it all. 

Marissa turned to her and whispered, "You're right, she's gotten way prettier."  
  
Summer rolled her eyes. "Whatever. She's not that special."

Marissa hid a grin at her friend's obvious frustration at Julia's popularity.

  
The ringing of the school bell a few minutes later finally put Summer out of her misery. Grabbing her purse and books, she stood up to go back into the school.

"Summer, wait up," Julia called as she and Marissa headed towards the walkway. 

She turned and waited for Julia to finally catch up and as soon as she did, Summer continued on her way back inside.

"So everyone's been surprisingly cool," Julia remarked as they climbed the stairs into the building.

Marissa seeing that Summer wasn't going to respond to the comment felt the need to inject some reply. "Yeah, I think you'll like it here. Anyway, this is my class," she said, pointing to a room. "I'll see you in History, Summer." 

Summer nodded and watched her walk into the class. She continued walking and Julia followed as they had the same class that period.

"So, there are a bunch of cute guys in this place," Julia said eyeing the student body as they walked down the hall.

Summer shrugged. "They're all right."

Summer waved to her friends, as they walked into their French class and walked over to sit beside them. Julia followed closely behind.

Julia was starting to irritate Summer with the shadow act but she kept a rein on her temper and didn't even roll her eyes when Julia sat directly beside her. 

She was opening her notebook, poised to actually write notes if it meant not having to talk to Julia, when Julia leaned across and whispered to her. "He has to be the cutest guy I've seen so far. Definitely."

Summer followed the direction of Julia's gaze and her eyes widened incredulously. Seth Cohen shuffled into the room and took a seat at the back.

She shifted her incredulous gaze back to Julia, who was following Seth's every movement with her big blue eyes. "Seth? Seth Cohen?" 

"Is that his name? Seth?" His name rolled off her tongue. "I like that. Introduce me to him."

Summer couldn't believe her ears. Julia wanted to meet Seth. She thought he was hot. Finally the initial shock wore off and Summer realized that this was exactly what she wanted. So why then did she suddenly feel so put out by her cousin's interest in him?

"Yeah, whatever. It's your social suicide." 

Julia snorted and flicked her wavy, chestnut brown hair over her shoulder. "What is he uncool or something?"

Now it was Summer's turn to snort. "Putting it mildly."

Summer waited for Julia to respond but realized that her cousin had already stopped listening to her and was watching Seth surreptitiously under her lashes. "Whatever, that means no competition. _Definitely_ introduce us," she finally whispered to Summer before she turned completely to the front and started listening to the lecture.

Summer felt like she had stepped into an alternate universe. Where was she? Who was she? 

What the hell was going on? 


	4. Tastes Like Gold

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A/N: Again thank you for the reviews. They keep me going.

It wasn't until Friday that week that Julia and Seth officially met. And it was through no introduction from Summer.

Seth was in the process of opening his locker when someone leaned on a locker beside him. He looked up and a pair of blue eyes stared across at him. "Julia Heatherton," she said, sticking her hand out before he could say anything.

He blinked at her."Uh, yeah, I know. We have, umm, class together." He grasped her hand in his and shook it. "Seth." 

"Yeah, I know." She grinned at him. 

Seth wasn't sure what to do now. Beautiful girls just didn't go out of their way to introduce themselves to him and the fact that she was Summer's cousin made this fact even stranger. Shouldn't she be trying to avoid him at all costs?

"So…" he said waiting for her to explain why she was there talking to him. She didn't. In fact, she continued to stand there watching him with a smile on her face.

"Uh, can I help you with something or uh…" Seth swung his gaze away from her face and back to the contents of his locker. Looking at her was getting him nowhere but more nervous. 

"Actually, you can," she finally said, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I'm having a party tonight at my place. I'd love it if you could come."

Seth looked at her suspiciously wondering if this was a practical joke. He quickly searched the hallway and didn't see a group of people snickering behind their hands. Maybe this was real.

"You want me to come to your house? For a party?"

Julia grinned, her pearly white teeth gleaming. "Yeah, I do. Give me your hand." She rummaged in her purse until she found a pen.

Still eyeing her skeptically, he put his hand out. She took it and scribbled something down on it. "That's my address and this…" she took his other hand and wrote down something else, "is my number. See you tonight," she said easily before walking away.

Seth looked at his hands after she left, a confused expression on his face. He wasn't quite sure what had just happened but he wasn't going to argue with it.

…

"And then she just, wrote her phone number and address on your hands?" Ryan asked mystified.

Seth raised his hands to show Ryan the proof.

"That's cool, man. What are you going to do about it?"

Seth flopped on his back and stared up at the pool house ceiling. "I don't know. The thing is, I don't—there's still Summer." 

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Summer, the girl who's ignored you ever since we started school. Man, you need to see what this girl's about and see what happens."

"Well, I don't want to like, assume anything. She might be messing with me, but yeah, I guess we should go to this party."

Ryan narrowed his eyes. "That we better not include me, man."  
  
Seth raised himself up on his upper arms. "Dude, you have to come with me."  
  
Ryan shook his head. "I don't know. Marissa will probably be there with Luke."

"So, maybe you should take your own advice and meet a new girl. What do you say? Come on. Please man, I'll owe you."

Ryan was susceptible to Seth's pleading and finally gave in. "Fine, we'll go. But I'm only staying an hour. If you want to hang out longer you'll have to do it on your own."

Seth grinned. "It'll be fun, I promise."

…

"This is fun?" Ryan asked as he and Seth watched two guys stumble out of the house and throwup on the lawn outside. 

They'd been at the party for a half an hour and no one had deigned to talk to them.

"This, to put it mildy, sucks," Ryan groaned.

Seth couldn't do anything but agree but he didn't want to leave yet. Summer had yet to show up to the party and Julia was so busy circulating she hadn't seen him yet.

"Let's just give it a little more time."

"I won't bail until eleven, like I promised." Ryan laid his head back on the sofa they were sitting on.

"Seth!" Seth looked up and saw Julia bearing down on them. "When did you get here?" she asked, stepping up to him.

He got up from his perch on the seat quickly and smiled. "Just got here."

"Good. Walk with me." She took his hand in hers to lead him outside.

Seth looked back and saw Ryan watching them quizzically. He lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug and followed Julia outside.

"Can I ask you something?" Julia asked as they walked down the stairs and into the direction of the pool.

"Umm, yeah." Seth looked at her warily, still unsure on how to deal with her and still confused as to why she was talking to him. 

"Are you seeing anyone?" She looked up at him between her lashes. 

Seth raised both brows in surprise. "Well, I uh…yeah, no."

Julia licked her lips and smiled. "Good. Then no one will mind if I do this…" She leaned over and brushed her lips against his. 

Seth blinked in surprise. What the—? Julia slid closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Seth smiled against her lips and pushing away the brief image of Summer in his mind, centered his thoughts on the girl in his arms.

…

Summer walked into Julia's house resignedly. She hadn't wanted to come but she knew what was expected over her so she did anyway.

She greeted her friends and left Marissa to find Luke. She was walking around inspecting the crowd when she noticed Ryan sitting on a sofa on the other side of the room. Without thinking she looked around to see if Seth was beside him. He wasn't. Not that she cared or anything.

She headed towards his direction when she realized that she'd rather talk to him than the majority of people there. As she walked up to him, she noticed that his eyes were closed. She flopped down ungracefully beside him and his eyes flew open.

"Hey," she said.

He raised a brow. "Hey." 

"So…Long time no talk."

Ryan quirked his mouth mockingly before nodding.

"Look," Summer said, already tired of the small talk. "She wants to talk to you. But she, for whatever messed up reason, thinks you'll look down on her for going back to Luke."

That got his attention and he straightened up in the seat. "She deserves better but if he's what she wants…"  
  
Summer shook her head. "It's not that simple. Like, after the _accident_ and stuff, her mom and parents were totally freaking. Her mom wanted to send her away and stuff but Coop begged her to let her stay. But they're sending her to a therapist and she just feels like, I don't know." She shrugged. "She's just trying to get things back to what they were. And like, being with Luke makes her feel like they are. Get it?"

Ryan tilted his head a little in acknowledgement of what Summer was saying. "Is she…?"

"Yeah, she's here. Go talk to her."

He smiled and got up. He was about to leave when Summer stopped him. He looked at her inquiringly and she shrugged. "I just wondered if you left Cohen at home?"

Ryan couldn't help but smile at her obvious attempt at sounding casual. "Yeah, he's here. Outside. You should go talk to him."

Summer glowered at him. "It's not like I care or anything. I was just…whatever. Go away!"

Ryan stopped himself from smirking at her, knowing that it wouldn't be well received and went to find Marissa.

Summer watched him walk away before she got up and found herself walking towards the backyard. It wasn't that she was looking for Cohen or anything. It was just getting really stuffy in the house. She needed air, that was all.

And even though she was only out there for air, Summer couldn't help her eyes from wandering over the crowd, looking for brown curls and matching dimples.

She was about to stop looking when her eyes paused on two figures beneath a tree. She stepped closer, as close as her legs would carry her before her mind recognized them and her body stilled in shock…and pain. Her world stattered for an instance before it became solid again.

Julia was nestled close in Seth's arms and their lips were…ew. _EW_! Summer wanted to scream. Wanted to drag her cousin away from him and hit out at Seth. How could he just…forget about her so easily? How fucking _dare_ they?

She didn't know how it happened—how one second she was watching them kiss and the next Julia was spitting out water after being pushed into the pool—by her. All she knew was that suddenly she felt remarkably stupid.

Seth got on his feet, his eyes wide, truly bewildered by what had just happened. He looked over at Julia, who was swimming over to the side of the pool and Summer who's cheeks was turning a bright pink.

Suddenly realization hit him. She was jealous. Summer was jealous…over him. He stopped himself from crowing but a small smile played across his lips.

Summer saw it and glared. "This has nothing to do with you, Cohen. Nothing. She was just—just pissing me off, okay?" She looked around thankful that only a few people were outside and those few were too wasted to pretend to care about what was happening at the other end of the yard.

Seth grinned at her broadly this time and after inclining his head towards her he walked over to the pool to help Julia out.

Summer swore softly before turning her back on them and walking back inside.

*

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A/N: This might be considered spoilery but it only applies to my next chapter so I believe you can read on without fear of being spoiled. After watching some of my tape of last night's show (we get it on Mondays), it seems that my storyline and the show's storyline seem to coincide with each other with no intentional fault of mine. So if you notice the parallels please note that I didn't do it on purpose at all -- it just happened that way. heh. 


	5. That and This

"Hey Julia. Hey Seth!" Seth blinked a couple times before he realized that the cheerleader waving at him was not a figment of his imagination.

He nodded in her direction and followed Julia to the cafeteria.

He'd been dating Julia for a couple of weeks now and to his great surprise, people weren't rushing to defriend her because of it. In fact, people were starting to look at him a little differently. Seth guessed that they were trying to figure out why Julia was going out with him and he didn't think he was being conceited when he thought that maybe they were starting to get why.

He glanced at Julia and smiled. She was awesome. She was well liked around school, teachers included. His parents loved her and Ryan thought she was hot—all the guys in school did. And she was going out with him. He grinned more broadly. 

At first he'd asked himself why a beautiful, popular girl like Julia would willingly be seen with him but it only took a few days of being in her company to realize that she was one of the most down to earth people he'd ever met and she was becoming one of his best friends. 

Which was the problem. As much as he thought she was beautiful and great, the attraction just wasn't really _there_. The more they hung out the more he kept seeing her as a sister like figure and it was fucking frustrating. Finally, he met a girl who was awesome in every way and he didn't feel anything more than friendship for her.

As they walked into the cafeteria, his eyes wandered over the room looking for Ryan. His eyes paused when they fell on Summer's dark head. She'd been avoiding him since the night of the party. He only saw her now in French class. He missed talking to her, he even missed the berating.

She looked up as if sensing his gaze on her and for a second he thought her eyes brightened at the sight of him. Just as quickly, she frowned and with a flip of her hair turned away.

His heart fell for a second and perhaps that showed on his face because Julia looked at him, then followed his gaze and her brows puckered in a frown. "Seth, we need to talk."  
  
He looked at her and wondered at the expression on her face. "Yeah, sure. Let's…" 

She shook her head. "No, not here. After school at my house." 

He nodded and frowned. This sounded serious. Was she thinking of breaking up with him? He was selfishly worried about it even though he knew that with the fact that he still had feelings for Summer and only a feeling of friendship for her, breaking up was inevitable. 

He just didn't want to lose Julia's friendship. With her, Ryan and now Marissa, who was back to hanging with Ryan, this year was by far becoming the best one of his high school career and he really didn't want to lose that. 

…

"Do you want something to eat or drink?" Julia asked as she unlocked her front door and walked down the hallway.

"Do you have cereal?" Seth asked, raising his brows in question. 

Julia grinned. "Of course." 

She led him into the kitchen and started hunting in the pantry for the boxes of cereal she had. Finally finding them, she allowed him to look them over before deciding on Corn Pops.

After they had poured both the cereal and milk into bowls, they headed to her room.

Seth eyed the back of her head as she walked in front of him. So, this was it. The walk of shame, the march of doom. He wasn't sure that he wanted to hear what she had to say but he thought dropping the bowl of cereal and on the ground and making a dash to the front doors would leave things somewhat…awkward between them.

They finally reached her room and Julia slumped down on her bed, bowl of cereal still in hand. He looked around before walking over to her desk chair and sitting down on it. 

She looked across at him and straightened up. "I don't know how to start this."

Seth felt his heart drop. She was really going to do it. He decided to make it a little easier for her. It would be better to just get it out there and over with. "Okay, you want to break up with me, I get that. Let's not dance around it."

Julia looked up at him, surprised at his words. "It's not—Look, I like you. I think you're an awesome person but…I refuse to play second fiddle." 

Seth's eyes widened disbelievingly. "What are you talking about?"

Julia took a spoonful of cereal and chewed. "Summer, Seth. I'm talking about Summer. You still like her don't you?"

Guilt unfurled in his stomach. Had he been that obvious? He looked at her silently. He didn't know what to say.

She shook her head at the look he was giving her. "Don't worry about it. I know you've had major feelings for her for a long time and it's okay."

Seth put down his bowl on her desk and walked over so he could sit on the bed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I thought things would change but it hasn't. And like—"

"It's okay," Julia said cutting him off. "Being friends is totally cool with me."

"I was worried about that, actually," he said to her.

"Seth, the last thing I want to do is lose your friendship. You're one of the most sane people I know at school. I think I'd go crazy without you." She grinned at him and he grinned back. She put her bowl down and hugged him. "This is probably the best break up I've ever had."

He laughed. "This would be the only break up I've ever had so yeah."

Suddenly Julia got up, a thoughtful look on her face. "So, what are we going to do about Summer?"

"Uh what?" 

"I want to help you, Seth. My cousin needs someone like you in her life."

Seth gave her a lopsided grin. "Yeah well, explain that to Summer."

"Why explain when we can show her?" Julia's eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Where are you going with this?" Seth asked as he noted the glee in her voice.

"What if we didn't break up—I mean, what if people still thought we were together? And so did Summer. What if we totally shoved it in her face? Jealousy is a great motivator. We saw that the night of my first party here." Julia said ironically, thinking of her unwanted swim in the pool. 

A smile slowly came over Seth's face. "Okay that is an _awesome_ idea. But, are you sure you want to do this?"

Julia smiled. "I wouldn't have brought it up otherwise. It'll be fun to play with Summer's head. I've been wanting to this for years. Besides, I'd love to shake things up a little for the so-called popular kids in school. I know what it's like to be the uncool kid."

Seth looked at her doubtfully. "You used to be a geek? Yeah _right_." 

She grinned at him. "Not that this proves anything but…" She got up and walked over to her closet. She slid a box out of it and flipped the top of it open. 

Seth looked inside and saw comic books, some in plastic some not, but all in pretty good condition. His mouth dropped open as he picked up a well-preserved copy of a 1957 Superman comic book. "Whoa! The Forbidden Box from Krypton," he said in awe as he read the cover of the comic.

He set it down and looked through the rest of the box, trying to find other hidden treasures. After looking through half of the collection she had, he looked up at her and grinned. "Forget about this Summer plan. Let's get married."

Julia giggled and joined him on the bed.

*

****

A/N:So that's that. Thanks to those who are reviewing. And again if you read this please review. I'm not overly concerned with the amount but knowing what people are thinking about how I'm portraying the characters and how the storyline is going really helps.

And a big thank you to **Literati Lover **for the continued reviews. :) 


	6. Pills To Swallow

Summer watched Julia and Seth walk hand in hand into the classroom. Ugh! She rolled her eyes. They were so sickening to watch. She turned her face away from the happy couple and went back to looking at her notes.

"That is like, so wrong. Publicly walking hand in hand with Seth Cohen." Summer turned and faced Samantha, one of her cheerleader friends, who had just spoken. 

"That's what people do with their boyfriends, Samantha," she quipped, pretending that the idea of the two of them together didn't bother her in the slightest. 

Samantha shuddered delicately. "Does the idea of Cohen as anyone's boyfriend only creep me out? Anyway, she needs to be careful. People are only being nice to him when she's around—which is like, always. But our patience won't last much longer."

Summer frowned and turned back to the front. She'd already warned Julia that dating Seth was social suicide. If she wanted to stay with him, these were the consequences.

She knew she could have warned her cousin again but as she glanced over at the two of them laughing at something with each other, Summer got the feeling that somehow Julia wouldn't care. 

…

"She keeps watching us," Julia whispered to Seth, who was sitting in front of her.

Seth glanced across the room but Summer had already looked away. It had been two days since they had started the jealousy route and he didn't think it was working. 

He was having serious doubts about the plan. He hated playing mind games. It wasn't his thing but he also wanted Summer and Julia seemed adamant that it would work.

Seth brought his attention back to the teacher, who was now explaining a group assignment that was due in the next week. Madame Rousseau explained in her perfect French that it wasn't enough to just read the books one must live them. Therefore, every book they read would be acted out in some way or form. This time around, each group would be given a specific scene from the play _L'École des Maris_ also known as The School of Husbands by Molière and each scene would be acted out accordingly. 

"Le premier acte et scène, Marc et Patrick." She walked around the room delegating scenes from the first act. "Le deuxieme scène de le premiere acte…Summer, Richard, Julia, Samantha et Seth." 

Summer groaned. Working on a group project with Seth and Julia. Could it possibly get any worse?

When Mme Rousseau finally finished assigning groups she asked everyone to get together and start on their project.

Summer blew a strand of hair out of her face before she got up and walked slowly over to Julia's desk where the rest of the group was now gathering. 

Julia was already talking when Summer finally stepped up to the group. "…Obviously you guys will play the two brothers," she said looking at Richard and Seth. 

Richard shrugged and Seth nodded, both acknowledging the obvious. 

"Now, Summer and Sam, do you want to play one of the sisters or the ladies maid?"

Summer made a face. "Ladies maid? Do I, like, look like I would play a servant? Let me answer that, no."

Julia blinked at Summer before turning to Samantha. "Okay…What about you?"

Samantha shrugged. "I really couldn't care less."

"Fine. Summer and I will play the two sisters Isabelle and Lenor and Samantha you'll play the ladies maid Lisette." The bell rang as soon as Julia finished speaking. When she saw that everyone was about to leave she quickly added, "Okay so why don't we all get together tomorrow at my house to practice?"   
  
Everyone agreed, even Summer although she did so grudgingly and stated that they would meet up after school to go to Julia's house the next day.

…

"Il est ainsi bâti." 

"Je vous en plains, ma soeur…Ugh, can we take a break? We've been practicing forever."

Julia rolled her eyes and looked over at Seth, who shrugged. "Summer, it's been twenty minutes."

Summer sighed. "Look, I'm starving. I missed lunch, so can we just take a mini break so I can get something to eat?"

"You could have told me that in beginning. Help yourself," Julia said, pointing to the kitchen.

"Whatever." Summer threw the book she was holding down on the couch and made her way to the kitchen.

They were all at Julia's house practicing for the play. Samantha was the only one missing; she had bailed after school stating that something had come up that she couldn't miss.

Seth eyed Richard who was sitting across from him going over his lines. He didn't like him. Something about him was deeply irritating. He had the tall, blonde football player thing going on and Summer seemed to be impressed by it. They'd been flirting ever since they got to the house.

Summer came out of the kitchen with a couple slices of buttered toast and a glass of orange juice. "Okay let's get this over with."

Seth saw the bread and smiled over the memory of them sharing his toast. Even with all the bad things that happened on that trip, it had been by far the best time of his life.

"Let's start from where we left off," Julia said, flipping her book open. Seth and Summer opened their books as well and they went back to practicing the scene.

It was a couple hours later and everyone was packing up to leave when Julia faced Summer and asked her if she needed a ride home.

Summer smiled at Richard who was on his cell phone before turning back to Julia. "That's okay. Richard and I talked earlier and he's going to give me a ride home." She grabbed her bag and went to the hallway closet to get her sweater.

Seth leaned over to Julia and whispered frantically, "Okay, this is **not** working at all and now she's into jock boy over there."

Julia shook her head and laughed at the look on Seth's face. "So what? Are you going to give up on her now?"

Seth fell back on the couch. "No."

"Then chill. This is all going to work out, just wait and see."

Summer walked back into the room almost at the same time Richard got of his phone. "Hey, Summer I hate to do this to you after I promised to give you a ride and everything but I have this family thing, I have to do and since I know you won't be stranded, I hope you don't mind if..." His voice drifted off before he completed the sentence. Not that he had to. 

He grabbed his bag and gave her a quick apologetic smile. "I gotta go. I'm sorry," he said, before he turned and walked out of the house.

Julia seeing this as an excellent opportunity elbowed Seth in the stomach.

"Ooph—What was that f—" He stopped talking as soon as he saw the pointed look Julia was given him. He grinned when he realized what she was about and got up from the couch.

"Hey Summer, I can bring you home."

Summer flicked her gaze to Julia then to Seth before she shrugged. "Whatever. If it's cool with Julia." 

Julia smiled. "Of course it is." She got up from the couch as well and walked over to Seth, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You are so sweet to give my cousin a ride home. After you've dropped her off, come back and we'll … hang out." She gave him a quick peck on his mouth and Seth had to restrain himself from applauding her. In one sentence, she had made it sound like his giving Summer a ride was a chore and had implied that he'd get a reward for it when he got back.

She winked at him before she stepped back and turned to let them out of the house. "See you tomorrow, Summer," she said before she closed the door behind them. 

Seth snuck a glance at Summer as they walked down the stairs and decided not to say anything to her. Summer didn't look very receptive to conversation right at the moment and especially not conversation with him.

It wasn't until they had climbed into his parent's Range Rover and he'd started backing out of Julia's driveway that he remembered that he wasn't supposed to know Summer's address, even though he did.

Eyes still straight ahead he asked, "So, uh, where am I dropping you off?"

Summer gave a start when he spoke. She had been wrapped up in her own thoughts, thoughts that had annoyingly centred on the dark haired boy beside her, and for a second her mind blanked. He was watching her so she made a face and asked icily, "What is it, Cohen?"

He raised both brows, surprised by her sudden tone, but repeated, "Your address?"

"Oh." She gave it to him and quickly turned away to look out the window, carefully hiding her face so he couldn't see the telling red spreading over her cheeks.

A tense silence fell between them until ten minutes later Summer, eyes still fixed on a point beyond the window, made a comment on something she'd been thinking about all day. "So, what are you guys, like, married?"

Seth glanced her way and tried to keep the amusement out of his voice when he responded. "I'm sorry, what?"  
  
Summer rolled her eyes and turned towards him. "Oh come on, Cohen. How, husbandly of you to drive the wife's cousin home. You might want to speed up, so you can get back faster. I'm sure she's keeping the bed all warm for you." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Summer regretted it. Not only did the image of Seth and Julia having sex make her nauseous but even to her own ears she sounded jealous.

"Why do you care, Summer?" Seth asked, his eyes piercing into hers.

As their eyes locked, her heart sped up and she was shocked that he could have such an affect on her. What was going on with her? She wasn't into him, she _couldn't_ be into him.

"I don't. Anyway, this is me."   
  
Seth realized in frustration that they were on Summer's street and he wished they had a few more minutes. He parked in front of her house and was undoing his seatbelt to walk her to her door but she was already out of the car before he could even get his door open. "Don't bother to walk me up, I'm good. Thanks for the lift." She slammed the door and sprinted up her walkway. She walked into her house without even turning to wave goodbye and Seth slumped down dejectedly in his seat when he saw the door close.

Summer was definitely feeling something for him, he was almost positive about that. Were those feelings enough for her to throw caution to the wind and give them a chance? That he wasn't so sure about.

****

A/N: So, I know it's been months and I really have no excuses. I kind of just got bored with everything I was writing at the time and didn't want to start again. But I'm going to try again and see where this goes. Thanks for all the reviews from before. I probably wouldn't have continued at all had you guys not reviewed. 


	7. Come Undone

"Okay what we need is to do something to shake her up," Julia said, watching Summer flirt with a group of the water polo guys in the cafeteria.

"No kidding," Seth said, a frown on his face. Ever since he had driven Summer home, she had been avoiding both him and Julia. It was as if she had resolved in her mind that he didn't exist. It was majorly bumming him out.

"Don't give up hope, my friend. I have an idea—just play along," Julia said with a grin. The smile just as quickly left her face and tears filled her eyes. "How could you do this to me?" 

Seth looked at her perplexed. What? He was about to ask her what exactly she was trying to do when she spoke again, her voice rising with her words. "Do you love her?" she asked, her voice trembling. She looked at him wide eyed and it took him a moment to realize that she wanted him to respond.

"Uh…I don't know." He wasn't sure what answer she wanted.

She gave him a barely discernible nod telling him that he was doing fine. "You know enough to want to break up with me for her." 

"It's, uh, it's not like that," he improvised.

"It _is_ like that, Seth. I saw her, she's beautiful but I thought we had something real." She got up, sadness clearly on her face for everyone to see.

He glanced around and realized that the people around them were starting to stare. Even Summer's eyes drifted over to their table.

Julia continued. "I'm not letting you go without fight, Seth. I'm not." She picked up her bag and sniffled before walking out of the room. 

Seth wasn't sure what had just happened but he hoped Julia would fill him in later. He got up and met the disbelieving looks of his classmates but it was the expression on Summer's face that made him feel sick. It was filled with disgust. She looked away from him and with a quick goodbye to the guys exited the cafeteria.

…

"Did you hear about Seth Cohen?"

"Oh my God, he totally dumped Julia."

"And here I was, waiting for her to do it."

"So brutal."

…

"So, I hear he's like seeing some model."

"Well, I can see it. He's pretty hot."

"Like, I know what you mean. There's something about him now. He's totally changed since last year."

…

"Julia's trying so hard to win him back. It's almost sad."

"But I understand. He's totally worth it."

"Yeah! I'm so mad I didn't see him first."

"I think her beach party is so a ploy for her to like get him back."

"I don't know how she thinks she's going to compete with an actress."

A sigh. "I wish Seth would notice me."

…

"Not that I'm not enjoying this new popularity and everything but I don't think I like the means it took to get here and I don't know how this is going to help me get Summer," Seth said as two girls passed them and smiled at him lasciviously.

"Summer will think you're more attractive because everyone wants you," Julia said easily.

They were sitting in one of the sofas at her parent's beach house a week after their little cafeteria scene. 

Seth had been amazed at the rumours that had circulated about him. Everyone thought he was some kind of stud or something. He'd had more propositions from girls in the last week than he'd had his whole life. It was hilarious…and weird.

"Yeah, it might have been a good plan but if you haven't noticed, Jule, Summer thinks I'm a contemptible human being. And I really can't say that I blame her. She thinks I'm playing you and some other chick – which, dude, have you heard some of these rumours? She's gone from a random girl to a model, to an actress—to like Paris Hilton. It's not right, man."

Julia snorted. "Why do you think Summer's so mad at you? Because she has feelings for you, that's why. Trust me. I know what I'm doing." 

"I don't know—"

"You're continuous badgering is majorly starting to bug. Just shut up and pretend to be indifferent to me sitting here," Julia said underneath her breath as a couple passed by. She doubted anyone would be able to hear their conversation over the loud music but she wanted to be careful.

He shrugged and did as she asked. 

…

This was an obvious sign of the apocalypse, Summer thought as she watched Seth Cohen monopolize the attention of four girls from the squad. He said something and they all giggled. 

Summer rolled her eyes when she saw Samantha walk over to the group and put her arm around Seth's waist. Was this the same girl who was showing visible disgust at the mere idea of dating Seth three weeks ago? It was pathetic the way the girls were acting.

She didn't like this side of Seth. This new playboy image. She liked him better when, and yes, she could admit it, when he'd only had eyes for her.

She took a big gulp of her Corona and shook her head. She was doing it again. Freaking out over Cohen. She just couldn't seem to stop herself and it was frustrating. Okay, so she had developed a teensy, little crush on the guy. That could totally be remedied. She'd just hook up with someone tonight.

She eyed the guys around the room and frowned. They were all wrong. One wasn't quite the right height, another's hair had waves but not thick curls that tended to grow out in a fro, another's eyes weren't quite the right shade of brown. She suddenly realized what she was doing and bit her lip so she wouldn't scream.

Okay there was only one way to correct this. She had to get Cohen out of her system. Once she did that, she'd be able to move on and completely ignore him. The only way to do this was to … well, to … she'd figure it out when she got him alone. 

She put her bottle down and took a step in his direction. Her heart suddenly started to beat erratically and apprehension filled her. She couldn't believe how nervous she was. _It's only Cohen, Summer. Get a hold of yourself._

She picked her drink back up, took another drink and resolutely walked to the edge of the circle of girls around Seth. She squeezed past them and found herself directly in front of him. He looked down at her and his eyes widened a little. Good, she thought, maybe she still had an affect on him. 

Seth had seen Summer staring at him from across the room and he'd spent much of the same when it came to her until Samantha had slipped her arm around his waist and distracted him. A distraction that he didn't want or need. He didn't like Samantha; she was like a vampire but like, not. Because vampires were _hot_. Samantha and vampires however had that whole bloodsucking thing in common. 

He'd been using all his effort to get her off him, so when he finally did and turned back to the other girls, Summer was no longer at the other side of the room but right in front of him. 

"Cohen, we need to talk," Summer said grabbing him by the arm. Before he could speak she pulled him away from everyone, dragged him out of the room and into the last bedroom down the hall.

"Summer, I had no idea you felt this way about me," Seth said jokingly when she finally let him go to close the door. 

"Cohen?" Summer put down her drink and walked up to him until they were standing only a few inches apart. "Shut up." She took his face in her hands and kissed him.

Seth bit back his surprised exclaim. When Summer had dragged him into the room, this was the last thing he had expected her to do. She pressed her body against his and settled her lips over his and suddenly he couldn't even remember his name and at the moment, he didn't care. 

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed her even closer to him. His lips parted and hers followed. She tasted sweet. Like strawberries and vanilla. He'd never had a fondness for either but now it was all he wanted. He slid one hand up to her face and tilted it, deepening the kiss.

He started moving back with her still in his arms and the back of his knees met the edge of the bed. He sat down with her nestled between his legs and he grasped her hips to tug her closer. His hands slid up and under her shirt and his fingers brushed against her bare back. She moaned at the feel of his warm hands against her skin and pushed him down until they were both lying on the bed.

Seth was too caught up with the feel of her for the realization to hit that he and Summer were making out and that he was causing the delightful noises coming from her. If he had stopped to think, he might have been more nervous but he wasn't thinking. Just feeling. 

He rolled her over onto her side and grasped the edge of her shirt so he could ease it off her. Suddenly someone tore into the room, making the door bang against the wall and causing them to break out of their sensual haze.   
  
"Oh, dude. My bad. I thought this was the bathroom," Luke said eyeing them on the bed before walking out of the room.

Summer gasped and pulled out of Seth's arms. No, no, no this was not supposed to happen. She sat up and fixed her shirt while her mind raced furiously. The kiss was supposed to get him out of her system not make her want him more. _Shit_.

She got off the bed and made about two steps to the door before he stopped her with a hand on her arm. 

She glanced back at him and quickly looked away. He looked so hot with his hair messy, his crumpled shirt, and that really sexy gleam in his eyes.

"Summer that was—" 

"That was nothing, Cohen," she said shrugging his hand off her arm. "It meant nothing." 

"Liar," he said softly. She paused only slightly at the word but didn't stop walking until she was safely out of the room.

She leaned against the wall and sighed. Now what was she going to do?

****

*

A/N: I was left a review yesterday saying that I'd updated this three months ago and I was thinking that couldn't be true. And then I looked at the date of the last chapter and realized that uh, yeah it was. I'm sorry that I suck but thank you for being cool about the wait. Your feedback means a lot to me. :) 


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